UCA quarterbacks reach a higher comfort zone

Saturday

May 28, 2011 at 10:01 PM

David McCollum

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of a position-by-position series on UCA football, from the players’ perspectives, as the Bears head into the summer. Interviews were conducted in April after spring football practice).AOne of the major developments of the spring for the University of Central Arkansas football team was the development of senior quarterback Nathan Dick, who will be one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the Southland Conference this year.During three spring scrimmages, he completed 83 of 110 passes (75.5 percent) for 762 yards, 11 touchdowns and was intercepted twice."It’s the confidence," he said. "I’ve been in this system two years — every practice, every game I’ve been getting better, I’ve got to come out with the confidence level that I know everything, which I do and play at my top level."Everytime we put in something new in the spring, I was used to it, so that’s a plus side for me. I just feel confident in everything we have and everything we can put in and I’m confident I can show it when it comes to playing the games."His teammates recognized that."He’s that guy who knows everything, tells every route and what everybody should be doing," said running back Anthony Blackmon, Dick’s roommate. "That’s what makes a quarterback, confidence in himself and the players around him. He has that confidence in all of us.""You know the offense, you play faster," said tight end Brennan Rushing. "He’s taken over the leadership role.""He’s making his reads faster," wide receiver Isaiah Jackson said. "He’s more of a vocal leader. He’s more accurate. He’s making every throw.""Dick was in charge last year, but this year, all the guys look up to him for leadership and he’s can take the reins an go with it," linebacker Seth Allison said."This is the first time I’ve been in the same system for two years," said Dick, a transfer from the University of Arkansas who started every game last season. "I want to watch film and see what I can do and keep progressing."Areas to improve?"My agility and my feet can always get stronger; Those are my focal points during the summer," said Dick, who completed 63.2 percent of his passes in 11 games last season for 2,589 yards and 12 touchdowns while rushing for 212 more. Taking over the starting role last season was a learning experience for Dick."I learned how your team your team needs leadership," he said. "Some teams need somebody to yell at them and some teams need someone just to talk to them, ‘C’mon let’s go.’ We have a bunch of leaders on offense. We’ve come together as one big band of brothers."One of his "brothers" is backup Wynrick Smothers, a good friend who played in only seven games last season and was limited during the last part of the season partly because of a knee injury. Smothers passed for 184 yards and rushed for 176 more. After surgery, Smothers, a redshirt sophomore, expects to be 100 percent by fall.Rehabilitation is not his only goal."I definitely need to work on the consistency of my fundamentals, be able to do everything coaches ask me to do all the time and do it on my own without coaches having to repeat it once or twice," he said. "I think I’ve grown as a player; I’ve gotten more fundamentally sound but I’m still not where I want to be or where they need me to be."After the spring, Smothers seems more comfortable in the offense."It’s kind of complicated but not really," Smothers said. "Once you get it in mind and know where’s everything is supposed to be and everything needs to be, it’s like magic. When you know the offense, you can tell everybody what to do and know what everybody is supposed to do."He thinks it’s a matter of establishing a comfort zone. "I feel once I get that complete and whole confidence, I can be a coach on the field," he said. "I know I’m not to that point yet but when I get to that point I feel that will very helpful to me and my teammates because they will have that much more confidence in me.NEXT: Running backs

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